Lost Your "Competitive Edge"? Then, It's Time to Get Out of Retailing!

For retailers worldwide, January is a month of reflection. Cold, hard-nosed reflection. 

• "As I consider restocking, and go through the process of assessing 2012, I keep wondering, 'WHY am I doing this?!'"

• "Sure, I love my merchandise and the customers who love this merchandise. But, my results just are not good."

• "My staff and others are telling me that some of our best customers are going to a competitor. Hmmm...." 

Do some of these thoughts and concerns sound (all-too) painfully familiar?

If so, The Retail Owners Institute would suggest that all of these concerns reflect the same missing ingredient: you have lost your Competitive Edge. 

The solution? Re-discover and establish a distinctive and compelling Competitive Edge! Fast!!

Ask yourself, "What do we offer that separates us from all our competitors?" 

• Absolutely the lowest prices?

• Absolutely the broadest inventory assortment?

• Absolutely the very best location?

• Absolutely the wanted lines that no one else has?

• Absolutely the best e-commerce operation in your market?

• Absolutely the services for customers that are unique and special?

• Absolutely the most efficient and frugal operation around?

• Absolutely the biggest outlet for your merchandise anywhere? 

And of course, "absolutely" means without question, obvious to everyone. That is the only way any of these strategies represents a true Competitive Edge.

What if you do NOT have a true Competitive Edge? 

Then, absolutely, you should consider cutting your losses and closing down!

Kidding yourself that you are okay regarding a Competitive Edge is one of the tell-tale signs of a retailer in decline.

Reflection time is over. 

It's time to commit. Act now! Reclaim your Competitive Edge!

Creative Crisis Management Must "Pencil Out"!

"Why Be Open 7 Days When Only 4 Are Profitable?"

As we have all read and heard - repeatedly - it has been a VERY tough couple of years for independent retailers everywhere. Lack of willing customers, narrower margins, inability to get traditional bank loans, huge increase in on-line competition, etc., etc. has been brutal on thousands of retailers.

With all that doom and gloom around us, it's a special thrill to tell the remarkable turnaround story of one brave retailer. We've been asked by The National Retail Federation to present this case on January 11 at their 100th Anniversary EXPO in NYC at the Jacob Javits Center. (If you are going to be there, please come by to meet our client, John Whisler, one of the Co-Owners of Kitchen Kaboodle.)

Here's the copy that The NRF is using to describe our presentation:
"Why Be Open Seven Days when Only Four are Profitable?!"

This session will feature a real-life case study in creative crisis management, and how challenging conventional wisdom can help the independent retailer serve their best, most profitable customers with the products they want, at the prices they want, and the times they actually want to shop.
Speakers:
Patricia M. Johnson and Richard F. Outcalt
Co-Founders; The Retail Owners Institute®

And if you cannot be there, here's the gist of the story:

At the moment of steepest economic free-fall, their bank abruptly called their loans, their attorney described Chapters 7 and 11, the owners' respective homes were pledged, it was February and slowest time of the year, their vendors were anxious to get paid, and their 100+ employees were trembling with the uncertainty.

Yet, the owners kept their cool, created a never-been-done-before plan, disregarded the nay-sayers, and then executed it like the pros they are. (Eight months later their industry presented them with a "First-in-America Award for Innovation"!!!)

For 2011, we wish you the kind of strength, fortitude and vision that this retailer displayed. We all need to keep our eyes on the horizon and not be focused on the rough waters around us.

Hasn't Every Mall Lost its "Real" Anchor?

Retail is a mirror of society. And "society" is moving away from malls.

Consider the important social networking role that stores - and malls in particular - have played since their inception. They were the place that people would go to see and be seen, to meet with friends and neighbors; they were the new, clean, comfortable "Main Street", the new "Town Centre".

And many retailers and malls especially served this "social networking" role for teenagers, or for senior citizens walking their laps in a safe, climate-controlled environment. Pedestrian traffic was assured.

So, what's different today? Digital social networks. Malls as social networks have been supplanted. Now we have Facebook. Twitter. Texting. Even email for those a bit older. Socializing has not gone away, but it has moved away from malls.

In fact, when you are in a mall or shopping district, have you noticed which stores actually are busy? Yep. The Apple Store! Then, the cell phone stores. Are we suggesting that all retailers must sell smart phones in order to succeed? Not at all. But clearly, shoppers still seek social networks, and the tools that enable them to accomplish that.

We believe that every mall has a new kind of competitor; it's no longer the development at the next interchange, but the new emerging forms of social networking that engage the time and attention of customers.

Retailing IS a mirror of society. Isn't it time to bring more of a social networking experience into your stores? Malls aren't going to do it for you.

Retailing is Not Dead; It's Being Re-Invented!

"Four days, for savings, for you!"

Five-store Kitchen Kaboodle in Portland, Oregon has been a full-line, full-price kitchen and furniture retailer for 30 years. It's become a prominent and respected private chain.

But customers increasingly have been buying only the merchandise that's been discounted. And only at the times that suit them the best. Of course, that's the trend everywhere. So what can retailers do?

Effective March 6, Kitchen Kaboodle boldly switched to a 4-day week with everything off price!

Here's part of Kitchen Kaboodle's announcement of their new business model of "Four days, for savings, for you!"

"Shocking? Not really. As a locally-owned business, as your friends and neighbors, we feel a special need to give you what you want, these days more than ever. And who doesn't want the same great Kitchen Kaboodle stuff, at new lower prices? You don't want cheap steak, you want steak, cheap. To get it, just visit us Thursday through Sunday, or stop by anytime on the web. See you Thursday morning!"

By going to a 4-day week – closing all Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays – Kitchen Kaboodle is cutting expenses by over 30%. By passing those savings on to customers, all prices on 100% of the merchandise are discounted all Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. And none of their five stores are closing!

As Co-Owner John Whisler says, "We're offering our best merchandise, at the best prices with our best staff on the best days for shopping, all for our best customers. That's retailing for this 'New Normal.'"

See the Kitchen Kaboodle website for more info about their reinvention. For further details, call John Whisler at 503.241.4040.

Full disclosure: Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, LLC, the Co-Founders of The Retail Owners Institute, developed this reinvention concept for and with the Owners of Kitchen Kaboodle.